Work shortages close sawmill

NK Collins Industries has been forced to close its sawmill at Tambo, south-east of Longreach in western Queensland, due to labour shortages.

The company has already shut down mills at Augathella and Mungallala, east of Charleville.

General manager Sean Gribble says 14 people were employed when the mill was operating at full capacity but competition from the mining sector has meant it cannot find enough staff.

"We're losing them, previously to the mines, the mining sector has been taking any employable staff for quite a period of time," he said.

"Then the councils ... they are faced with the same issue and anybody who is worth employing, the councils are now taking them.

"It's nothing to do with timber supply or harvesting contractors at all - it is purely just labour."

Mr Gribble says calls for state and federal support have fallen on deaf ears and the visa process for overseas workers is not helping.

"Again it is just such a battle - the red tape and bureaucracy that you have to go through," he said.

"We've had one particular application in with a Vanuatu man who is experienced with sawmilling.

He says the company has been waiting two-and-a-half years for the Immigration Department to look at that application.

"We finally got word last week that it looks like he is going to be approved but two-and-a-half years - that's a joke, we can't wait that long," he said.

"The timber industry doesn't generate anywhere near the same amount of royalties.

"We've just been basically wiped off the map - we are not on their radar whatsoever.

"We've been talking to state and federal governments - I've lost count of the number of months that we've been trying to find out whether they can assist us, particularly with overseas workers.

"That is the only area we see that we are going to fill the void and it is just falling on deaf ears."

Timber Queensland (TQ) says there may need to be rationalisation of small timber mills in rural areas if the native timber sector is to be survive.

TQ chief executive officer Rod McInnes says rural mills are losing workers to the mining sector and that will have flow-on effects.

"The only easy answer for us is to rationalise mills into fewer, bigger mills, which has its own social and economic impact in the towns where the smaller mills operate," he said.

"Some people throw their arms up in the air and say "well, that's too bad - that's the market at work, we'll have to import our timber from Asia or the Solomons or wherever else, where wage rates are low and production costs are cheap'."